Of all the possible scenarios for the offseason for the Golden State Warriors, the one that actually happened is the most depressing of all. Golden State was hoping to lure star Giannis Antetokounmpo to the team, but he instead was traded to the Miami Heat.
Now, it looks as though LeBron James may be headed back east. If that were to happen, then the Warriors would be stuck in the same position they were in entering the offseason.
They aren't good enough to compete for the playoffs, let alone a championship. In fact, I would argue that they are getting worse by the day, with them having one of the oldest teams in the NBA.
The West has passed the Warriors and Steph Curry by
Worse yet, they've watched as other teams in the Western Conference have surpassed them. Teams such as the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz have leapfrogged the Warriors, making the possibility of even making the play-in tournament seem daunting.
If we were to go through and rank each play Western Conference team, it's hard to see a scenario in which Golden State would be the 10th best team.
Actually, I would go as far as to say that the Warriors have the bleakest future of any Western Conference team, aside from the Sacramento Kings
The Warriors are in a position no team wants to be in
Golden State seemingly doubling down on age and experience rather than youth. Of course they have stars Steph Curry and Draymond Green, but they also have 39-year-old Al Horford and 36-year-old Jimmy Butler coming off an ACL tear.
Their collection of young talent is also nothing to write home about. While they have most of their first-round picks going forward, the Warriors would presumably move those assets in a heartbeat if it meant they could land a star.
Instead, they'd be better served tweaking their existing team and seeing if the changes in the NBA draft lottery benefit them. Under the old system, the Warriors would have been on the lower end of the lottery.
However, the new system penalizes the three worst teams in the league while benefiting teams 4 through 11 at the bottom of the league standings. The Warriors project to be among the 10 worst teams in the NBA.
In that case, they could potentially end up with a high lottery pick as a result. That may not be the way they hope this offseason will turn out, but the draft lottery might be the best way of landing a star after having struck out this summer.
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